


Progression of Time

by magicianparrish



Series: Parenthood Shenanigans [2]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M, Post-The Raven King, about the future, like way post, this is a fluffy family fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 04:25:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11982093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianparrish/pseuds/magicianparrish
Summary: Ronan and Adam decide to video tape their kids on their first days of school each year.





	Progression of Time

**Author's Note:**

> So this was inspired by a video I saw today, where a dad video taped his daughter's reaction on every first day of school for twelve years and it melted my heart. 
> 
> And then decided to write a fic in which Ronan and Adam do the same with their kids. I also love fluffy family fics, and there aren't enough of them out there. 
> 
> This is also part of the parenthood series I have with these losers. You can hop on over and read those too if you feel like it. It's also where the correct pronunciation of the names are. Or you can google how to say them :) 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! This wasn't beta'd so all mistakes are mine.

**Kindergarten: Rian and Shea**

Ronan had both boys sit down together on the couch in the living room. The two of them were already dressed for the first day of school. Rian and Shea had matching red shirts that read  _ Double Trouble _ across the front. Ronan found the shirt funny and had bought it for them while going school shopping.

Rian was clutching his Stormtrooper backpack close to his chest, while Shea had dumped his baseball one on the ground before he jumped up onto the couch. Both of them had eager smiles on their faces and filled with energy that only children could have this early in the morning. 

Adam came in a minute later, with Anna on his hip, and in his mint green scrubs, he had to wear to work today. Anna was in a cute little navy blue dress with butterflies scattered across the fabric. Her fair hair was fashioned into little pigtails, and she was eating from a bag of apple slices. 

He sat down on the arm of the chair Ronan was sitting in and bent down to give a quick kiss to Ronan. Ronan then took out the video camera he found in a thrift store and pressed the record button. 

It had been Blue’s idea in the first place; to videotape their kids every year on the first day of school. Adam had jumped aboard immediately, and Ronan followed soon after. He liked the idea of seeing his family grow. The Sargent-Gansey’s still had a few years before Jamie went into kindergarten himself. 

“Is it on?” Rian asked. 

Ronan looked for the red light that meant it was recording and nodded to his sons. Adam looked fondly over at the two of them. 

“Are you guys excited to start kindergarten today?” he asked the boys. 

Both of them nodded their heads vigorously. Ronan and Adam shared a laugh at their enthusiasm. 

“How old are you guys?” Adam asked. 

The two of them looked at one another like they were trying to come to an agreement on an answer. Shea held up on hand, all five of his fingers spread out. Rian nodded in agreement, and they both turned towards the camera. 

They stuck out a hand each, their five fingers spread wide. “We’re five!” 

“What are you looking forward to the most?” Ronan questioned. 

He turned toward Rian to answer first. His face scrunched up like he was thinking hard about the answer. Ronan always found that he took after Adam the most out of all of the kids, both look wise and mentally. A moment later his face changed and Ronan could practically see the light bulb go off above his head. 

“I’m looking forward to showing off my reading and writing skills to the class! And learning new things.” 

Adam nodded and had a look of pride on his face. He had started to teach the twins a little bit of reading and writing because Rian had wanted to learn how. And because Rian wanted to learn, Shea wanted to join in too. Ronan had taught them how to handle animals, and grow plants and flowers correctly, and how to cook and bake. Both valuable skills to have at a young age. 

“And what about you, Shea?” Ronan continued. 

Shea didn’t even hesitate with his answer. He leaned forward on the couch as if to get closer to the camera. A giant toothy grin grew on his face. 

“I can’t wait to make new friends, and have them over to play in the fields and go swimming and have fun!” 

Adam had let go of Anna and put her on the floor. The toddler walked her way over and held her hands up expectantly towards her brothers. At the same time, both of them reached and pulled her up and sat her between the two of them. She took another apple slice and held it to Shea’s face, who took a giant bite. She then turned towards Rian expecting him to eat it too, and he did finishing it off. Anna seemed pleased. 

“When can I go to school?” she wondered. 

“You can go when you’re Shea and Ree’s age,” Adam said. 

“And when’s that?” 

“In a few years, bunny,” Ronan responded. 

Shea wrapped his arms around Anna, giving her a tight side hug. Her blue eyes widened at the surprise, but she smiled adoringly up at him. Shea closed his eyes and had a smile. Rian soon joined in. 

“And when you come to our school, we’ll protect you,” Shea promised. 

“Yeah, no one will mess with you,” Rian added. 

Ronan felt his heart melt at the sight. He wished he had his camera on him, instead of the video camera so he could take a photo and develop it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Adam take out his phone and snap a photo. He turned and gave Ronan a knowing look before pocketing his phone.  

“Are you guys excited to meet Mrs. Summers?” 

“Yeah, I like her last name,” Shea commented. “She’ll be sunny like summer.” 

“Hey, you know we love you right?” Ronan asked. 

Shea threw his arms wide, covering Anna’s face. “And I love you this much!” 

Rian stood up on the couch and started jumping. He was pointing to the ceiling, trying to touch it. “And I love you this much!” 

Adam stood up and grabbed Rian and Shea and held them together as he carried them. “Well I love you the most,” he said spinning them around and putting them back on the ground. 

Rian and Shea were stumbling from being spun around, and their giggles echoed inside the house. Ronan stood up his camera still rolling. “Well let it be known, that I love you to the stars and back. Take that Parrish.” 

Ronan tilted the camera towards Adam’s face. He crossed his arms and was glaring at Ronan, which made him laugh. “Always have to outshine me, dontcha Lynch?” 

Ronan cut the video after that.

* * *

 

**First Grade: Shea and Rian**

Ronan was the one to greet the boys after they got off the bus from school. Both of them quickly bounded off the stairs and turned around to wave to their friends who were still on. Then as the bus left, the two of them ran up the driveway. Ronan dropped down to his knees to greet the two of them in a big hug. 

The dogs also came out from wherever they were to say hello too. Caesar’s large bark echoed loudly, garnering attention. Shea released his hug from Ronan and went over to shove his face into Caesar’s fluffy black fur. Vito came up to Rian and licked his face in greeting. Ronan stood up and saw that Bridie and Marcus were nowhere to be seen. He figured Bridie was sleeping, and Marcus was still herding sheep and doing his job diligently. 

“C’mon, let’s get go. We have to videotape your first day of school,” Ronan said ushering the boys inside.

The twins ran ahead, while Ronan whistled for the two dogs to follow him. Once they were in, he took his shoes off and went to go get the camera he set aside for special occasions like this. Once he got it, he stuck his head in the kitchen, where the boys were grabbing snacks. 

“Grab your food and sit on the couch.” 

“Okay Papa,” they responded together. 

Ronan sat in the same armchair he had a year ago when he did the same thing for kindergarten. He’d decided to do it after the first day, so it would be a way to get them to talk about what happened. 

Ronan looked at the clock and knew Adam would be home in at least forty-five minutes. A few minutes later, the two boys walked into the living room and plopped on the couch across from Ronan. Rian was eating some carrots, and Shea was drinking from a Capri Sun, making all the extra noises of slurping he could. 

He turned on the camera and pressed the record button. Both boys smiled like they were ready. Shea smiled around the little yellow straw, and Rian had some orange in his teeth and was missing his two front. Ronan didn’t remember him missing both this morning. 

“How was your first day of school? I see Rian’s missing something,” Ronan deduced. 

Rian’s blue eyes widened, and he turned to Shea who also looked surprised that Ronan noticed something. Then he was nodding his head. 

“I lost my other front tooth today!” Rian exclaimed. 

“It was really funny. Ms. Shannon was in the middle of talking about rules when the tooth went flying across the room and almost hit her face!” Shea added on with vigor, “Ree was so embarrassed, Papa. His face was so red, it looked like sunburn.” 

Rian glared at Shea for exploiting his embarrassing moment, but then he went back to being excited at the camera. 

“I had to go to the nurse so she could put the tooth in a special bag for the tooth fairy. It’s in my backpack.”

Ronan smiled at the two of them. “Well, that sounds very exciting. I hope the tooth fairy brings you good fortune.” 

“Me too. I got five dollars last time I lost a tooth. And I’m saving that money to buy a new scooter.” 

Ronan nodded his head in agreement. He gave the job of giving money to Adam. Ronan knew that if he was in charge he’d give large amounts under the pillow. Adam had said that doing that would give them a large head, and he didn’t want his kids to become the entitled kids he hated. Even if they were rich, Adam would humble them. He was a good influence on Ronan. 

“So, what else did you do today?” 

“Well, we colored a lot. Ms. Shannon had a lot of markers and crayons to choose from. Papa, I’d never seen so many different colors before,” Shea said jovially. “I drew a picture of all the dogs. It’s in my folder, but I’ll hang it on the fridge later.” 

“And remind me again, what grade are you in?” Ronan asked, faking not remembering. 

Rian slammed his hands on the couch beside him. He leaned forward his eyes wide. “Papa, you’re supposed to know this! First grade!” 

“Oh, that’s right. But wait, how old are you? I forgot.” 

“Six, Papa! We’re six, and the oldest in our class,” Shea added. 

“Wow, that’s exciting. Oldest in the class.” 

Ronan heard the front door open, meaning Adam was home. Both boys jumped up from the couch and ran towards the front. Ronan stood up and joined them. He heard the familiar “ _ oof _ ” that came from being bombarded with two rambunctious boys. 

Adam looked up at the camera and smiled. He wasn’t in scrubs, but in a white button down and pressed slacks. He was in meetings all day. Ronan zoomed in on his face, just to see all the freckles. 

“I see you’re doing the video now. Catch me up,” he said. 

Adam seemed to catch on to what he was doing and hit Ronan on the shoulder. “Oh my God, don’t zoom in on my face like that.” 

Ronan let out a bark of laughter before zooming out and going back to the twins. Rian was telling the story of his lost tooth rapidly, with Shea occasionally joining in. Adam smiled at the two of them and ruffled their hair. 

“The tooth fairy will be good to you tonight.” 

* * *

**Second Grade: Rian and Shea**

It was a really nice day in September. So Ronan decided to videotape the twins in the backyard. He figured that the two of them had been cooped inside a school for seven hours, and needed some fresh air. 

Adam was off today, so he was able to greet the twins as they got off the bus much to the excitement to them. Adam had picked Shea up, albeit with a little difficulty, given how fast the two of them seemed to be growing. 

In July, on their birthdays, they measure them against the wall to see how much they grow each year. Rian alone had grown five in a half inches, giving him a good height above his twin brother who only grew three. 

Anna was also there to greet her older brothers and was sitting on top of Caesar, who didn’t seem to mind having the four-year-old. Opal even came out from the back yard where she usually frolicked around with the animals. 

They all made their way into the backyard, where the expanse of the farm was shining under the sun. The mountains that surrounded the horizon of the property reminded Ronan of his childhood. 

Rian and Shea sat down on the lounge chairs that were placed on the back porch. Opal and Anna had gone into the grass to pick out flowers of all kinds that grew on the property. Adam sat down across from them. He was in a plain green t-shirt and a pair of jeans and was barefoot looking completely at ease. 

Ronan sat down next to him and got the video camera. He turned it on. 

Rian smiled, showing off his grown up teeth, and Shea followed. He’d lost both his front teeth over the summer and they were mostly grown in now. Shea waved to the camera like he was talking to a friend. 

“You boys know the drill. How was your first day?” Ronan asked. 

“It was good. Mr. Soto is really nice. He gave us a lot of free time to talk with our friends,” Rian responded. 

“And what friends are in your class this year?” Adam wondered. They already knew thanks to all the parents who had called the last few days stating their excitement about their kids being together. Adam was a really good pretender at least. 

“Thomas, and Connor, and Eli are all in our class. I love it when people I’m friends with are with me! But I also love making new friends too. There’s a new kid in our school, and I went up and talked with him. His name is Michael. I told him my middle name is Michael, and he seemed interested. I like him,” Shea rambled. 

Adam smiled at Shea’s enthusiasm. Shea had always been more of a people pleaser than his brother. Rian was more of a commander, expecting people to follow him, and doesn’t really care if you like him or not. Shea is more sensitive and wants to be friends with everyone and if someone didn’t like him, he takes it personally. 

Opal and Anna came back up with bundles of flowers in their arms. A stem was hanging out of Opal’s mouth, where she had eaten it. Ronan had long since given up on trying to reprimand the little dream creature. 

The two of them started to weave the stems together into little flower crowns. Anna gave the first one that was made of violets and blue azaleas Ronan had dreamt, to Rian who dipped his head obediently as Anna adjusted it. She had her own made of pink roses and daffodils on her head. It matched the light pink dress she wore. The one she gave Shea was covered in orange tiger lilies and white lilies. 

“Anything else happen?” Ronan prodded. 

“Mr. Soto has this really cool fish tank. It really big, and there are all types of fishes inside. I forget the names of them, but one of them is spotty, so everyone started calling him Spot. He even let Steven Levy feed them today,” Rian said. “But he said he’ll make a new person do it every day, so we all get a chance to do it.” 

“That’s cool. He seems like a cool teacher,” Ronan said. 

* * *

**Fourth Grade: Rian and Shea**

**First Grade: Anna**

Adam and Ronan had picked up the kids from school. As a surprise, they took the kids to King Kone, the local ice cream shop as a treat. It was in the next town over, and a little bit of a drive, but always worth it.

The kids had been so excited at the fact of getting ice cream, they couldn’t stop bouncing in their seats; especially Anna. 

Since it was still relatively early in the day, and week, as well as the summer season crowd, died down in September, there weren’t too many people. Ronan was glad he was able to pull into a nice parking spot. 

They all got out of the car, and the three of them ran ahead to look at their options. Ronan and Adam followed after them. The teenager at the counter, smiled at the three of them. 

“Are you ready to order?” she asked. 

Rian nodded his head and took a step forward. “I’ll have a small banana cream in a cup with hot fudge, please.” 

The girl wrote the order down, and nodded towards Shea who stood next to his brother. His mop of dark hair covering his eyes. 

“I’ll take a small mint chocolate chip with chocolate sprinkles in a cup, please.” 

She nodded her head and smiled towards Anna who looked giddy just thinking about the idea of ice cream. 

“And I’ll have chocolate chip cookie dough in a small cup, please.” 

“Sounds good. Anything for you two today?” she asked looking up at Ronan and Adam. 

Adam was looking up at the handwritten menu, with his hands in his pockets. He had sunglasses over his face, hiding his blue eyes from Ronan. He looked over with a shrug. 

“Wanna share a sundae?” he asked. 

“Sure.” 

He turned his attention to the girl in the booth with a smile. It was one Ronan knew he learned from hanging around Ganseys in college. It was the charm smile. Ronan rolled his eyes and took out his wallet. 

“We’re going to share a hot fudge sundae, one scoop chocolate, and one scoop vanilla please.” 

“Okay, total is twelve fifty six.” 

Ronan handed over thirteen dollars and grabbed the coins before dumping them in his wallet and putting it back in his pocket. The cashier turned around in her stool to yell the order to the other people working in the back. A minute later she handed all the ice cream to everyone and they all walked over to a table to sit down. 

The kids immediately started to dig into their icecreams. Adam took his spoon and scooped a mouthful of chocolate ice cream into his mouth. He closed his eyes at the taste of it and let out a mmmmmm sound. 

“It’s not appropriate to make noises like that Parrish,” Ronan teased before taking a bite of his, except with vanilla. 

Adam glared at Ronan across the table. The three kids started to giggle into their spoons. “Shut up, Lynch,” he said with a mouthful of ice cream. 

Ronan took out the little video camera he kept handy on days like today and flicked it on and turned it towards the kids. 

“Okay kiddos, what was today?” Ronan asked. 

Rian and Shea raised their eyebrows, but they smiled nonetheless. Anna had the same enthusiasm the boys did when they were her age. 

“The first day of school,” they echoed to Ronan. 

“That’s right. What grade are you all going into?” 

“Fourth grade,” Rian and Shea said. 

“First grade!” Anna exclaimed. 

“The boys will go first. What happened today?” Adam wondered, taking another bite of his ice cream. A bit of chocolate dripped down his chin, and Ronan threw a napkin at his face. Adam glared but wiped it up. 

“We got assigned homework,” Shea muttered. He seemed less than pleased at this revelation. 

Rian shrugged his shoulders. “It wasn’t a lot though. We’ll get more later on.” 

“Yeah, looking forward to it,” Shea grumbled and took an aggressive bite of his mint chocolate chip ice cream. 

“Homework is just a part of life. Sometimes even I still have to do some homework,” Adam said trying to comfort Shea. 

“I’ve always hated homework. Worst thing about school,” Ronan said, taking a different approach. It seemed to work better with Shea, and Adam looked up at him with a face that said:  _ seriously? _ Ronan shrugged his shoulders with a smirk. 

“Anna what happened with you today?” Ronan asked to divert the conversation towards their daughter. 

“Mrs. Houston struggled over saying my name during attendance. It was kind of embarrassing, when I had to tell her how Saoirse was pronounced. And when I told her I like going by Anna, she seemed relieved.” 

“Teachers always stumble over my name too at first,” Rian said wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Anna looked up at her older brother and smiled. 

“But we did get to color name tags today, so that was really cool. And I made a new friend!” 

“What’s their name?” Adam asked leaning forward. 

“Kianna, which is funny because it has Anna in it! But she goes by her full name. And she asked why I go by Anna, and I told her it’s because of my middle name Rihanna. She thought that was awesome,” she bragged.

“She sounds awesome. I can’t wait to meet her when you have playdates,” Adam said with a smile. 

* * *

**Seventh Grade: Rian and Shea**

**Fourth Grade: Anna**

Ronan pulled out the video camera after all the dinner plates were set up and everyone was sitting down. 

Rian and Shea rolled their eyes at the device, and kept eating their spaghetti. Anna smiled at it.

“Papa, do you have to pull this out now?” Rian asked with a groan. 

Ronan hated that the boys were now getting to the age where they started to talk back. Being a teenager sucked. Especially being thirteen. In a way he empathized a little, but now he was the parental figure in the situation instead of the kid. 

He flicked on the camera anyway and pressed record. “This’ll only take a second Rian. Then we can all eat.” 

“Whatever,” he sighed, taking a scoop of caesar salad and putting on his plate and taking a sip of iced tea. 

“Boys, what’s on your shirts?” Ronan inquired nodding his head. 

Both of them looked down to see the green and white shirts that read Student Council on it. Shea looked up with a smile on his face. 

“Oh, Student Council!” 

“And what does that mean?” Adam wondered, even though he already knew. 

“We help plan activities and events for the school. We stood outside and greeted all the students, and helped the new students find class rooms,” Rian added. He sounded so professional, Ronan always thought he would make a great public speaker. He spoke loud and clearly and never mumbled. 

“That’s good to hear. Getting involved is important in school,” Adam said with a nod. 

“Hypocrite,” Ronan teased. 

“Sorry I worked three jobs, Lynch and didn’t play tennis. Still got me into Harvard,” Adam bragged with a wink. 

“Papa played tennis?” Shea asked with his eyes wide and mouth open. 

Ronan felt heat spread across his cheeks and neck. Adam let out a laugh and patted Ronan on the shoulder, leaning over the table. 

“Oh yes he did. And he was really good at it. Ask him about it later.” 

“I hate you Parrish.” 

“No you don’t. Anna anything interesting happen to you today?” 

“My teacher keeps all these cool animals in her room. Like a lizard, and snakes! She said that later on in the year she’ll let us touch them if we want to, so that was awesome.” 

Ronan nodded in approval. “She does sound awesome. I wish my teachers had pets like that in a classroom.” 

“Can we eat now?” Shea asked with a pleading look in his eye. 

“Not until you say I love you to the camera,” Ronan negotiated. 

“Seriously?” Rian said in a monotone. He was not impressed with Ronan’s antics. 

“Dead serious.” 

“I love you.” 

“I want you to mean it. Now I’m just gonna zoom in on your face.” 

Ronan did as he said he would. Rian screamed and covered his face with both of his hands. Adam was smiling at the exchange and Shea and Anna were laughing at their brother. 

“Oh my God, stop! Papa!” Rian exclaimed. 

“You two are next!” Ronan said, and their laughter died down as he went in on them as well. Shrieks were heard, and the dogs started to bark to add to the noise. Ronan even heard Opal’s bird noises being made from somewhere outside. 

Once Ronan had his fun, he zoomed out again. “Do you still love us?” he asked. 

“We love you,” all three said, still catching their breaths from laughing and shouting. Ronan was satisfied and closed the camera. 

“Eat up! Boys make sure you save some for the rest of us,” Adam commanded.

“Yes dad.”

* * *

**Ninth Grade: Rian and Shea**

**Sixth Grade: Anna**

Ronan and Adam had decided to take the family out for dinner to celebrate the milestones of the kids. It was this nice outdoor steakhouse in Baltimore, and it was so nice that they all had to dress nice for adhere to a dress code. 

Adam had booked the reservation three weeks ago, to make sure they’d have nice seating. It was a mild day in September, and the sun was already on it’s path to the horizon casting a beautiful orange glare downtown, and over the water which could be seen. 

Rian and Shea had sprouted up like trees suddenly in the last year. Ronan blinked and they were both nearing six feet, and climbing towards Ronan and Adam’s heights. It was so fast, that they had to go shopping for all new clothes because their old ones didn’t fit anymore. Instead of throwing them out though, they had given to Blue to give to Jamie. And they both looked much more mature than they had before. Rian looked more like Adam every single day that passed. 

It was giving Ronan virtigo just thinking about it. And Anna was going to be going through the same thing soon enough. She was already starting to show signs. 

But Ronan was determined to continue on the tradition and he took out the video camera and hit record. 

Both boys were in white button up shirts; Rian was wearing a light blue tie, and Shea was wearing a black bow tie. Their hair was gelled back nicely. Shea also had on a nice pair of wireframes that reminded him of Gansey. 

“How does it feel being in a brand new school?” Ronan asked with a smile. He remembered being a freshman in high school. The bottom of the food chain. He also recalled Declan being smug about being a sophomore and above Ronan. 

Rian took a sip of water from the fancy wine glass that was on the table. He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s kind of scary. But at least we still had our friends with us.” 

“And since we do sports, we already knew some upperclassmen. And they helped us out, which was nice. And the teachers were pretty chill.” Shea added. 

Ronan noted how deep their voices had gotten too. This seriously freaked him out. He looked at Adam and saw a similar look on his face. He was thinking along the same lines as Ronan.

“It’s also weird not seeing Shea all the time like we used to. We don’t even share any classes together, which’s never happened before.” 

“That means you’re really growing up now. Big fifteen year olds you are,” Adam said with a wistful smile on his face. 

The twins scrunched their noses together in unison. Ronan swore they were on the same wavelength most of the time. 

“Ew don’t say that. It’s making me feel old,” Shea complained. 

“How do you think we feel then?” Adam countered. “It seems like yesterday you were born.” 

“We’re still kids you know. You’re stuck with us for at least three more years,” Rian commented. 

“Three years is not a lot of time in the scheme of things,” Adam sagely said. Ronan rolled his eyes. 

He turned the camera towards Anna who was sitting next to Shea at the edge of the table. Her dirty blonde hair was clipped up behind her head. She was in a sleeveless dress with birds and plants on the pattern. Ronan noticed she was even wearing a little makeup, and she looked beautiful. 

“How did the first day of middle school go? Scary as your brothers always said it was?” Ronan asked with a hint of a tease. 

“Nah,” she said flapping her hand. “I did really like the idea of going from one class to the other. I’ve always hated having to sit in one place for most of the day. The freedom of hallways is a nice change.” 

“It just gets worse,” Rian added dryly. He had hated middle school and couldn’t wait to get to high school. It was all he complained about all of eighth grade and that summer. 

“Don’t say that,” Adam chastised. 

“It’s the truth.”  

“It’s different for everyone, Ree. Just cause you didn’t like it doesn’t mean Anna won’t.” 

Rian just gave Adam a glance that said: touché. 

 

* * *

**Twelfth Grade: Rian and Shea**

**Ninth Grade: Anna**

Ronan decided the proper punishment was to whip out the camera in front of the high school where they were all standing. Rian and Shea were sporting split lips. Shea had a nice bruise over the bridge of his nose, as well as a cotton swab stuck up one nostril to stop the bleeding. Rian had another cut above his left eyebrow that was bandaged up. Both were glaring at the ground with their arms crossed over their chests. 

Ronan couldn’t look down upon the two boys anymore, given that Rian now had one inch on him, standing at 6’5”, and Shea was just about eye level with Ronan at 6’3”. Anna looked guilty as she sat on the bench between her two brothers who had beaten up a senior who had trashed Ronan and Adam, and Anna as well. 

The two boys looked up together and groaned in unison. Ronan turned to see Adam jogging up to them, still in his infamous mint green scrubs. And he did not look happy to be here, as he was taken away in the middle of his shift. When he joined them, he squeezed Ronan’s shoulder and raised his eyebrows before looking at his boys. 

“This better be good,” he murmured in a low voice. 

Ronan pressed the record button. Both boys were hunched over, covering their marked faces. 

“Happy senior year boys. C’mon show your faces to the camera,” Ronan goaded sarcastically. 

More groaning came from them, but they reluctantly lifted their heads up to glare at the camera. He heard Adam hiss in the background. Anna still looked embarrassed. 

“So how’d the first day go?” Adam asked dryly. 

Rian lifted a finger as if to explain himself. He knew would have to make his case to Adam later to try and get out of punishment. Adam was always the one who doled it out, and he was the judge and jury. 

“Talk shit, get hit,” Shea said casually shrugging his shoulders. He ran a hand through his dark hair that was tied up.

“Interesting word choice for your defense,” Adam commented. “Care to elaborate?” 

“Fucking Steven Levy was talking shit about you and papa and how people who are gay are not natural and then he saw us and said it to our face. And then he even went after Anna, and we couldn’t just let him get away with it,” Rian added with a fury in his voice. 

“Watch the language Rian. Thank you for caring, but it wasn’t worth a two day suspension. On the first day of school no less,” Adam reprimanded. 

“I’ll think of your punishment when we get home. Anna how was your day at least?” 

Both boys looked ready to argue, but Adam had swiftly turned the conversation to something else leaving no room. He was always good at switching gears so swiftly like that. Anna shrugged her shoulders and gave a wry smile. 

“It was fine. At least I didn’t get suspended like these two dorks here,” she said with a smirk. 

“Hey!” 

“We defended your honor!” 

She wrapped her arms around both of them and leaned her head against Shea’s shoulder. 

“Not that I didn’t appreciate it, but now it’s you who are going to get it from Dad, and not me. So thanks!” 

* * *

**Twelfth Grade: Anna**

Ronan would be the first to admit that it was lonely in the house without the twins living there all the time. Rian was closer, going to school at Georgetown in D.C., which was really only an hour away. Ronan and Adam usually went down every weekend to have dinner with him and catch up. Shea was much further away, at Stanford in California, playing soccer. But he made sure he Skyped with everyone every single weekend without fail.

So when Anna came home from school, and she was the only one who was sitting on the couch where this whole video project began, Ronan felt a pang go through his chest. He remembered the boys starting kindergarten and she had climbed up in between her brothers and demanded to know when she would start school. Now she was a senior, and looking at colleges for her future. Ronan had to wonder where time went. 

“Are you ready Papa?” she asked gently from across the way. 

She was in a pink tank-top and skinny jeans. Her dirty blonde hair was chopped to her shoulders and artfully messy. Her glossed lips were spread in a smile, and Ronan could see tears were forming in her eyes. 

Ronan took out the camera and turned the record button on. “Always, bunny.” 

“How was the last first day of high school?” 

“Great, but it seemed to all come crashing down on us that this was it. The teachers are really chill though which is nice.” 

“And what are you looking forward to the most?” 

“Prom, and graduation of course.” 

She looked down at the couch and then around the living room again. She let out a deep sigh. “It feels weird not having them next to me to talk about their first days.” 

“I know.” 

The front door opened, and Adam came stepping through with a wide grin on his face. It looked like he’d seen heaven. He was in a nice white button up, with a red tie and nice slacks. He threw his suit jacket against the railing of the staircase and came into the living room. 

“I have a surprise for you.” 

Then Shea and Rian came walking through the door. Both had their arms wide open and Anna screamed and jumped into their arms. Shea swung her around first kissing her head, and then it was Rian’s turn who did the same thing. Once they released, they came in and hugged Ronan tightly. 

“I see we made it just in time for the first day video,” Rian commented with a smile. 

* * *

As Ronan pieced together the footage he gathered over the years, he found himself tearing up. Adam was with him helping, and had his arms wrapped around Ronan’s torso. He couldn’t believe how little they all were at one point, and now they were all graduates of high school and going on to bigger and better things. 

He hated that he was going to be an empty nester soon, when August came around and it was time to move Anna to Boston. But he was glad he was able to experience it with Adam.  

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed it. Writing this made me feel warm inside :) 
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated. Thanks everyone!


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